Calcutta Club USA to hold festival in Acton

Monday

May 15, 2017 at 5:36 PMMay 15, 2017 at 5:36 PM

Calcutta Club USA will host the third annual Sanskriti LitFest and Book Fair from noon to 5 p.m. June 10 at Parker Damon Building, 11 Charter Road, Acton. This novel event in North America, which brings together literature, art, cuisine, thought leadership and “family fun,” has risen in prominence in three years and attracts the top literati and South Asian authors to participate either in person or over videoconference. Books of prominent Indian sub-continent authors are available for purchase in English, Bengali and Hindi. A key innovation of the book fair is the Authors’ Direct program — the popular platform to reach Boston’s reading community leveraged by over 50 rising authors.

The keynote speaker will be the globally renowned Dr. Shashi Tharoor, India’s bestselling author, former UN UnderSecretary General and member of parliament, who is traveling to Boston to speak at the Calcutta Club USA book fair. There is an impressive lineup of major writers, including Devdutt Pattanaik, India’s leading mythologist; William Dalrymple, noted historian who will talk about his new book on Koh-i-noor; Arunava Sinha, versatile popular English translator of many regional language classics and Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay, the controversial author of bold, explicit novels including the bestselling Panty. Also joining will be Sanjoy Roy, CEO of TeamWork Arts and creator of the famed Jaipur Literature Fest. Finally will also be several panels of specific subjects of contemporary interest.

“We feel blessed that the club’s innovative initiatives have been widely recognized in such a short time and attracted world leaders,” said Chitro Neogy, co-founder of Calcutta Club USA and convener of Sanskriti 2017. “We love experimenting and just concluded a very successful CuisinArt program in February where we integrated live cooking, dance and painting. We’re extending that vision in Sanskriti 2017 by showcasing Indian art and antiques side by side with books.”

Said club member and author of ”Unbox!” Prithvi Banerjee — “One of the things I’m looking forward to is moderating a panel on Demystifying Mindfulness with several renowned authors who have helped bridge the gap between esoteric wisdom of mindfulness and modern science.”

Delectable custom cuisine on the book fair floor will be provided by Mehfil Restaurant of Tewksbury. The event has multiple sponsors, including Urban Public Companies of Denver, Huntington Learning Center of Acton and Lekhoni authors group of Boston.

Interested attendees, authors and artists are requested to register in advance, as the novel event can get sold out. For information: 508-740-7848; https://calcuttaclubusa.com/sanskriti-2017.